Propaganda in Mexico's Drug War (2012)
PROPAGANDA IN MEXICO’S DRUG WAR America Y. Guevara Master of Science in Intelligence and National Security Studies INSS 5390 December 10, 2012 1 Propaganda has an extensive history of invisibly infiltrating society through influence and manipulation in order to satisfy the originator’s intent. It has the potential long-term power to alter values, beliefs, behavior, and group norms by presenting a biased ideology and reinforcing this idea through repetition: over time discrediting all other incongruent ideologies. The originator uses this form of biased communication to influence the target audience through emotion. Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels.1 The most used mediums of propaganda are leaflets, television, and posters. Historical uses of propaganda have influenced political or religious schemas. The trend has recently shifted to include the use of propaganda for the benefit of criminal agendas. Mexico is the prime example of this phenomenon. Criminal drug trafficking entities have felt the need to incite societal change to suit their self-interest by using the tool of propaganda. In this study, drug cartel propaganda is defined as any deliberate Mexican drug cartel act meant to influence or manipulate the general public, rivaling drug cartels and Mexican government. Background Since December 11, 2006, Mexico has suffered an internal war, between quarreling cartels disputing territorial strongholds claiming the lives of approximately between 50,000 and 100,000 people, death estimates depending on source.2 The massive display of violence has strongly been attributed to President Felipe Calderon’s aggressive drug cartel dismantling policies and operatives.
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